In a year when several soaps (like As the World Turns) sent their powerful matriarchs to the back burner or saddled them with puerile material, B&B wisely chose to showcase the immense and unique talents of Susan Flannery. She is a gifted, thoughtful performer who always sells the material, whether she's vamping with Sally or sharing a tender, almost embarrassing scene with Eric as she struggles to recover from her stroke.
Of course, it was Stephanie's obsessive, irrational hatred of Brooke that gave Flannery the chance to really go to town. Flannery's Stephanie, formerly a mama lion, has evolved into a force of nature � something you see on the Weather Channel rather than a soap. The character and the material could not survive in the hands of a lesser actress, but Flannery takes the material and, using her immeasurable skill, energy and dedication, turns it into arresting drama that is sadly, no longer seen on soaps. We bow down in awe of this actress.